Kenny Loggins Kicks off 25th Annual Book Festival at MJCCA, Sat. Nov. 5
Kenny Loggins will play some of his classic hits and discuss his four-decade-long career as one of America’s most iconic rock stars, and his latest project – a bestselling children’s book based on his hit song, “Footloose.”
Loggins, who has sold more than 25 million albums worldwide and won two Grammy Awards, co-wrote the book The Unimaginable Life: Lessons Learned on the Path of Love. His songs have been hits over the last four decades, including “This Is It,” “I’m Alright,” “Footloose,” and “Danger Zone.” He was one-half of the duo Loggins and Messina (with Jim Messina) in the 1970s, and the pair had numerous singles on the Billboard Hot 100 charts with songs like “Your Mama Don’t Dance” and “Thinking of You.”
In addition to his string of successful recordings, Kenny became the first major rock star to dedicate himself to recording music for children and families. His album Return to Pooh Corner remains the best-selling children’s album of the last 20 years.
Mara Davis will host the conversation with Loggins Saturday, Nov. 5 at 8:15 p.m. at the MJCCA in Dunwoody. The book festival at the Marcus Jewish Community Center runs through Nov. 20.
Six-Week Contemporary Dance and Physical Theatre Festival Featuring Israeli and Local Artists Oct. 5-Nov. 19
CORE, the award-winning contemporary
dance organization based in Decatur, Ga. and Houston, Texas, is collaborating with 7
Stages Theatre, Emory University Dance Program/Candler Concert Series, Rialto
Center for the Arts at Georgia State University and Kennesaw State University to
present EXPOSED, a six-week festival of richly-layered, boundary-blurring contemporary
dance and physical theatre from Israel. Performances featuring Israeli and local artists,
workshops and classes will be offered throughout metro Atlanta from October through
mid-November. A complete schedule can be found at www.exposedfestivalatl.com.
The Israeli artists scheduled to participate include:
Niv Sheinfeld & Oren Laor Dance Projects
Yossi Berg & Oded Graf Dance Theatre
Anat Grigorio Dance Projects
Hillel Kogan
Ofir Nahari
Ella Ben-Aharon
Ido Tadmor
Vertigo Dance Company
Billed as “a comedy” by writer and director Grant McGowen, “Girls Life” brings few laughs. However, there’s hope as the cast and director of the show that I saw changes on Oct. 13, so things could improve.
The premise of the play appears to be that grown women act like college coeds. The play opens with three women –aged approximately 31 years old– smoking pot and getting drunk in an apartment that is shared by two of the women–Catey (Jordan Demers) and Janie (Christie Vozniak). The three talk about getting shit-faced and getting laid. Scene. Janie is in a man’s bedroom, demanding he have sex with her, but he won’t do it. She goes in a rage, yelling and screaming at him to f* her now. What we see is a lot of “acting,” a lot of “ouch” screaming, but there’s no “pinch” behind it all. Turns out this manic Janie is an obstetrician, living with another woman in a sparsely furnished apartment, getting wasted, cavorting with a 20-something busboy/waiter, Alex (Pedro Ferreira) and then going to work to deliver babies. So she’s an obstetrician making a six-figure salary living with a scattered-brain woman who is not quite sure which gender she prefers, in what appears to be a tiny tenement. Not only is that hard to buy, we learn there is more history to Janie’s relationship with this man, and based on that history, it’s surprising that she would even be with him. Maybe a college “girl” would, but a 31-year-old doctor? It’s far from plausible.
Catey, who has a boyfriend, is seeing a woman on the side, Liza (Alexa Staudt). Supposedly these two are passionate about each other, but their kissing didn’t seem the least bit passionate.
The best scene is the one in the above video, between Diana (Jackie Costello) and Jack (Omer Mughal), two people really relating to one another. It’s simple, without manufactured drama, but there’s plenty of drama there in those moments, and the dialog feels real. These two characters are believable, and the best acting of the show happens between them.
After Oct. 8, “Girls Life” will run with a new cast up until Oct. 23 under the direction of Michelle Pokopac at Pinch N’ Ouch.
The cast for Oct. 13-23: Rylee Bunton, Brian Ashton Smith, Candace Kitchens, Alex Frazier, Mala Bhattacharya, Alyx Libby. Direction will be by Michelle Pokopac.
Stephanie Lloyd, Aaron Strand, Jessica de Maria
A hot, sexy, creative rendition of “The Threepanny Opera” is playing at 7 Stages. Gangster Macheath is two-timing his wives, Polly(Stephanie Lloyd) and Lucy (Jessica De Maria) and cheating on them both. Polly’s parents, Mr. JJ Peachum (Kevin Stillwell) and Mrs. Peachum (Don Finney) who for a cut of their wages train beggars to beg, attempts to have Macheath arrested. A look at gangsters, whores and beggars in England in the early 1900s. Great music (including the classic song “Mack the Knife”), with wonderful singing by Lloyd and De Maria and acting by Kevin Stillwell and Lloyd.
Written by Bertolt Brecht, music by Kurt Weill, directed by Michael Haverty and Bryan Mercer, “The Threepenny Opera” runs through Sept. 25 at 7 Stages.
Cast: Aaron Strand, Adam Lowe, Dorothy V. Bell-Polk, Nicolette Emanuelle, Jed Drummond, Tad Cameron, Meg Harkins, Shannon Murphy, Evan Hynes, Claire Christie.
When you leave a show still clapping in the aisles after the actors have left the stage, something must be great. And the new musical “The Prom” at the Alliance Theatre certainly is. Whether or not you’re asked to “The Prom,” this Broadway-bound performance is one you need to get to. Reminiscent of Jerry Herman, “Mame,” Judy and Mickey, “Evita,” and even Mel Brooks with a mixture of contemporary controversy over LBGT rights, the show rocks with modern music and old-style show tunes.
The premise runs on a failing Broadway show whose cast hears about a small town Indiana high school prom that is being canceled due to Emma (Caitlin Kinnunen) who intends to bring another girl as her date. The Broadway show’s diva, Dee Dee Allen (Beth Leavel), and a few other cast members decide to become involved in Emma’s cause and travel to the school to stir publicity in hopes of luring people back to their show.
The entire cast is outstanding. Level is a true Broadway star who received a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her starring role of Beatrice Stockwell in The Drowsy Chaperone. At least one other performer if not more have been nominated for Tony Awards.
If talent, a great script and great music is all it takes to get to Broadway, this show has it.
Book by Bob Martin and Chad Beguelin, music by Matthew Sklar, lyrics by Chad Beguelin,”The Prom” runs through Sept. 25 at the Alliance Theatre.
Cast:
Mary Antonini, Brooks Ashmanskas, Anna Grace Barlow, Courtenay Collins, Collins Conley, DeMarius R. Copes, Kevin Csolak, Shelby Finnie, Josh Franklin, Damon J. Gillespie, Sheldon Henry, Josh Lamon, Becca Lee, Kate Marilley, Isabelle McCalla, Chris Medlin, Martin Moran, Becca Petersen, Angie Schworer, Christopher Sieber, Brendon Stimson, Teddy Toye, Alena Watters, Michelle West.
The musical “If/Then” takes a look at what life might have looked like had Elizabeth (Jackie Burns) chosen one boyfriend over the other. If she had gone with one, then this would have happened. If she had chosen the other, then this would have happened.
Recently divorced and in her late twenties, Elizabeth has moved from Arkansas to Manhattan where she meets in the park her new girlfriend, Kate (Tamyra Gray), and old college sweetheart, Lucas (Anthony Rapp). Kate tries to fix Elizabeth up with the guy nearby playing guitar, but Lucas beckons his old love interest to leave with him. She ponders her choices. Just after she chooses Lucas, Josh (Matthew Hydzik), a handsome man dressed in military fatigues, says he just got back from deployment, feels like he knows her and asks for her phone number.
We then see Elizabeth’s life unfold in two ways: one, had she chosen Lucas and two, had she chosen Josh. Her romantic partners step in and out of scenes so quickly that it’s hard to keep up with the story. When she’s with Josh, she’s called Liz. With Lucas, she’s called Beth. One moment she’s Lucas’s girlfriend; the next moment she’s Josh’s. In the first act, the scenes with Elizabeth and Josh have passion and excitement, but most of the scenes with other characters leave much to be desired. Lucas forms a romance with David (Marc DeLacruz) and Kate hooks up with Anne (Janine DiVita), but I have no feeling for any of them. No excitement. No dislike. I sit in my seat waiting for something to happen. I wait. I wait some more.
Hydzik and Burns pick me up with their beautiful voices. She is a booming powerhouse, and he melted my heart on more than one song.
In the second act, the intensity and excitement between Josh and Liz fades. In each scene there is something new that happens, but almost none of it makes me sit forward in my chair. I want to care about the play’s characters, especially when they’re in danger, but I don’t. The script falls flat. As someone else so aptly put it, the stakes aren’t high enough. In most scenes it appears that if this happens, then so what.
Book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey, music by Tom Kitt, directed by Michael Greif, “If/Then” runs through Aug. 14 at the Fox Theatre.
Cast:
Jacques C. Smith, English Bernhardt, Charissa Bertels, Xavier Cano, Kyra Faith, Corey Greenhan, Cliffton Hall, Alicia Taylor Tomasko, Tyler McGee, DeeDee Magno Hall
Scott Rousseau, Amelia Fischer, Jake Krakovsky, Kathleen McManus. Photo: Stungun Photography
“Dispossessed,” now playing at Essential Theatre, is an example of some of the smartest, most original playwriting now being shown on the Atlanta stage. Influenced by but totally different from Russian playwright S. Ansky’s play “The Dybbuk,” “Dispossessed” should be on the top of your list of shows to see.
A play within in a play, “Dispossessed” takes place in 1928 and revolves around a Yiddish Theatre on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in rehearsal for a show about a Dybbuk, the soul of a dead man who has entered the woman he loved. The theater company’s new leading handsome actor, Natan (Jake Krakovsky), is a philanderer who charms the leading actress, Rivka (Amelia Fischer), her father and owner of the theater company, Chaim (Scott Rousseau), and her mother, Chavelle (Kathleen McManus). Meanwhile, Natan schemes to marry Rivka so her parents can retire and he can become the theater’s new owner and operator.
In a small tightly knit community, Rivka is a nonconformist determined to make her own path in the world. With this fresh, inventive well-written play, Karen Wurl appears to be doing the same. She is currently working on another play, which is about a woman who shoots her rock star husband and is narrated by one of the woman’s cats.
Written by Karen Wurl, co-winner of the 2016 Essential Theatre Playwriting Award, directed by Peter Hardy, “Dispossessed” runs through August 28 at the 2016 Essential Theatre Play Festival at the West End Performing Arts Center.
Cast:
Leah . . . . . . . . . . Alyssa Caputo
Dov . . . . . . . . . . Mark Gowan
Zalman . . . . . . . . . .Tyler Hayes
Izzy . . . . . . . . . . Chris Schulz
Tsilah . . . . . . . . . . Christie Vozniak
If you’re a fan of musicals and have never seen Steven Sondheim’s “Company,” you need to get to Actor’s Express now. The 1970’s show ran on Broadway for more than two years and won six Tony Awards, including for Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical (George Furth), Best Original Score and Best Lyrics. This show, however, will only be around for a couple of more weeks, so get the to the theater now.
“Company” revolves around Bobby (Lowrey Brown), a philanderer whose friends try to convince him to grow up and get married now that he is turning 35 years old. Notable songs include “Side by Side by Side,” “The Ladies Who Lunch,” sung by Elaine Stritch in the original cast recording and by Libby Whittemore in the Actor’s Express cast, “Barcelona,” and “Getting Married Today,” whose lyrics rip near speeds of a hundred words per stanza and are sung beautifully by Amy (Jessica Miesel) just minutes before marrying Paul (Dan Ford) as she realizes she can’t go through with it.
Directed by Freddie Ashely, “Company” runs through Sept. 11 at Actor’s Express.
Cast:
Peter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Daniel Burns
Marta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jimmica Collins
Jenny . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Laura Floyd
Susan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jill Hames
Larry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Steve Hudson
David . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Phillip Lynch
April . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kelly Chapin Martin
Sara . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rhyn Saver
Kathy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Emily Stembridge
Harry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Craig Waldrip
Joanne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Libby Whittemore
“Smart People” may not be as smart as all that, but it’s an amusing play about the differences between cultures and races. Without being preachy, it focuses on the ways we are all affected by race, our own prejudices and that of others. Relationships and conflict swirls around an Asian-American, Harvard psychology professor Ginny (Julee Cerda), a highly educated black actress, Valerie (Danielle Deadwyler), a white neuroscience professor, Brian (Joe Knezevich) set on proving that all whites are racists, and an obstinate black doctor, Jackson (Neal Ghant).
It’s an enjoyable show with good actors and an outstanding performance by Deadwyler, who had the audience howling when her character is called upon by a director to play a stereotypical, urban, street-style angry, loud woman.
Written by Lydia Diamond, directed by David de Vries, “Smart People” runs through August 7 at True Colors Theatre at the Southwest Arts Center.
